Gun Review: The Rossi Wizard

Considering the price of barrels versus the price of a rifle in another caliber, the Rossi Wizard is a great choice for a shooter that wants to shoot a variety of calibers on a budget.

Rossi’s transformer of a firearm known as the Wizard is one gun with many barrels. Overall I liked the little gun outfitted with the .22LR barrel. The Wizard was plenty accurate enough to justify carrying her into the September squirrel woods. And when you consider you get three guns (.243, .22 and .50 caliber) versus just one, all for under $500 – well, that tends to make an attractive offer even more attractive.

Originating in Brazil, Rossi firearms – at least the long guns – are imported into the United States by Braztech International, LC, headquartered in Miami, Florida. In her purest form, the Wizard is a single-shot hammer gun and she doesn’t get much more complicated than that.

How It Works

Beginning with the receiver, Rossi’s Xchange-a-Barrel break-action is opened via a thumb release to the right of and slightly behind the hammer. Press down, the barrel hinges open, simple as that. Interestingly enough, the little gun features not one or two, but three safety mechanisms – a traditional transfer bar safety; a manual toggle-esque S/F safety on the port side of the receiver, which prevents the hammer from reaching the transfer bar; and Rossi’s – or Taurus’, actually – keyed security system.

Locking the system, in the case of the Wizard, prevents the hammer from being fully cocked. Speaking of the hammer, the MZL does come complete with a hammer spur that is very necessary for those, such as myself, who would immediately mount optics.

The .50 caliber MZL barrel features a 1:24 twist, measures 23 inches and is drilled and tapped for a Weaver style base. It comes equipped with fiber optics sights, front and rear. A single thimble secures the ramrod to the underside of the barrel; the remainder of the rod is housed inside the forearm.

The ramrod itself is brass, with a wooden (3-3/8 inch by 3/8 inch) 8-groove handle, and measures just 15-1/2 inches long, but does telescope to a full 23-1/8 inches. The barrel exchange process is as simple as is the gun itself: unscrew the front (forearm) sling swivel, remove the forearm, break the action, and lift the barrel away from the frame.

The Wizard’s stock might best be described as a high Monte Carlo style, with no checkering on the pistol grip and only a black plastic ROSSI-emblazoned cap on the grip.

The stock attachment screw, a metric hex bolt, is located underneath the pistol cap; not in an inline configuration accessed by removing the recoil pad as is typical. The one-inch ventilated rubber recoil pad is substantial, and separated from the buttstock by a wafer-thin white spacer.

Variety is the spice of life, and that’s particularly true with the Wizard. In addition to the .50 caliber muzzloader barrel, the company also offers a .45 caliber barrel. Along with the black powder options, Rossi also makes available three rimfire barrels (.22LR, .22WMR, and .17HMR); 10 centerfire barrels ranging from .223 to .45-70; and shotgun tubes including 12-gauge (rifled and smoothbore), 20-gauge, and .410 caliber. Several different aesthetic variations will be available such as such as black synthetic, traditional wood and blued, and camouflage.

Field Tested

I was impressed with the performance and functionality of Rossi’s .22LR, so the proverbial bar had been set relatively high before the .50 caliber ever got out of the house and onto the range. Perhaps not surprising, I wasn’t disappointed with her performance.

Although typically a pelletized powder kind of guy, I decided to test the Wizard with both pellets and granulated powder, basically out of curiosity. Pyrodex products got the nod here; I’ve had nothing but good fortune with the company’s RS granular material and 50-grain pellets over the past decade or so.

For bullets, I chose a variety – 295-grain PowerBelt AeroTips (AT) and Hollow Points (HP); 290-grain Barnes Spit-Fire TMZ (TMZ); PowerBelt AeroLites in a 300-grain format; and 300-grain Knight Red Hot bullets using the High Pressure (black) sabot. Like the powders, I’ve used all of these projectiles over the years, and all with good success both on the range and in the field. Ignition was supplied by Remington’s Kleanbore 209 muzzleloader primers, and the barrel was swabbed clean between shots.

Mechanically, I experienced absolutely no problems throughout the course of the 50-shot run at the bench. Ignition was immediate and reliable and recoil was noticeable, though tamed somewhat thanks to Caldwell’s Lead Sled and a PAST shoulder pad. In terms of downrange performance, it was the 295-grain ATs that won out, printing 2- to 2-1/2-inch three-shot groups at 50 yards; however, I’ve never been extremely impressed with the ATs’ on-target performance in the field on whitetails.

The Red Hots, though a close second with their consistent 2-1/2-inch clusters, provide, it’s been my experience, extraordinary knockdown power on deer-sized creatures – and based on those observations will be what we’re stuffing down the Wizard’s gullet come December. Post-range cleanup was minimal, quick, and easy; pull the plug, scrub the bore, take a toothbrush to the plug, lube, install, wipe, and it’s over.

What didn’t I like about the Wizard .50 muzzleloader? At almost 9-1/2 pounds, she’s a heavy little thing, and quite barrel heavy and unbalanced. The telescoping ramrod, though understandable in this particular situation, does, at least for me, take some getting used to. Afield, my thoughts are to either pack a lightweight 25-inch fiberglass rod with me, or telescope the OEM rod and lay it alongside my pack – just in case I need to reload the Wizard with the quickness.

And I think the transfer bar and manual safeties are a bit of an overkill; in fact, I found the left-side manual switch to be rather inconveniently located for a right-hander, not to mention tremendously noisy when allowed to fall forward by itself. That said, a little practice with manual safety can help overcome both inconvenience and noise. Price? Online, I found the Wizard Matched Set, which includes wood-stocked .243Win, .50 caliber MZL, and 28-inch 12-gauge barrels for – ready?—only $325 (hinterlandoutdoors.com). That, if my math is correct, makes for three very different firearms for just a touch over a C-note each.

With in-depth articles about today’s most fascinating guns, both old and new, testfire stories on the industry’s hot-off-the-line guns, insights on fine collectibles and custom creations, and up to date reports on new optics, guns, ammo, and reloading equipment, this book has something for everyone.

About M.D. Johnson

M.D. Johnson is an outdoors writer who has published articles at numerous publications as one half of M&J Outdoors. He's authored several books about the outdoors, including "Successful Duck Hunting" and "Guide to Pheasant Hunting."

I am currently having problems with mine, the gun jammed and will not break open anymore. It has only a 1 yr warranty, minimum charge of 35 to even look at it. As it is certainly internal parts that are the issue, they asked for a credit card before even opening it up. I will never buy another Rossi firearm again. I have a 27 yr old Charter arms Bulldog Tracker that still is covered.. My Rugers are never a problem, even my HiPoint Carbine is lifetime and it isn’t exactly Weatherbee quality,,, I am very dissapointed with the customer service.

My Rossi came with a manufacturers defect. The firing pin doesn’t hit the primer hard enough to fire every round. Rossi doesn’t sell repair parts. I searched the Internet and found many other Rossi owners with the same problem. I called Rossi USA. The only way I can get it fixed is to ship the rifle and pay Rossi almost as much as a new rifle costs. I WILL NEVER BUY ANOTHER ROSSI!!!!!

I have two Wizards. Both had the same issue as yours,would not fire out of the box.About 5 to 10 minutes with a fine file and stone fixed them both. I removed a few thou’ from the hammer face, Test firing as I went, I was careful not to remove too much,which would result in pierced primers. Both are now very reliable and good,accurate shooters as well. Takes 50 or more rounds to clean up the rifling and “break in” the barrel, about the same as it takes to break in a Handi barrel. I am NOT suggesting you do this to yours,just telling you what fixed my own.

Most hammer guns out there are designed to work with a bare hammer. By using a hammer extension, the hammer is slowed down to the point where ignition can be compromised. There are different solutions to this problem. The first and most effective is to replace the stock hammer spring with a stronger one. Another way is to not use the hammer extension at all or to use a light weight aluminum one instead.